Persona 6 Fiction
by gujigigesa
Summary: Following a public scandal about his parents, sixteen year old Junpei Matui has been shipped off to finish high school on the quiet island of Ōsumi. Once there, he's caught up in the rumours of people disappearing from the island and the persistent rumour of government conspiracy surrounding the Saikaidō Space Centre. This is an impatient fan's idea of the next Persona game.
1. 15-4 Saturday Afternoon

15/4 Saturday / Afternoon

As the ferry pulled up to the jetty, a soft chorus drifted out. It sounded poetic, like an old classical song. Junpei looked up from the book he was reading. He'd spent long enough with his old friends checking out the island of Osumi to know that it was as boring as it looked.

He slung his bag onto one shoulder and waited patiently for the ferry to dock. Osumi was the largest town on on the island. Everything about it seemed flat. Junpei had read online that outside of the Institute of Space and Exploration, the largest building was a 31-story corporate headquarters. Everything seemed so flat and lifeless.

He was the only getting off the ferry who had to have his ticket validated. Junpei guessed he was the only with a one way ticket.

'So there you are,' a bored lady called out from the booth. Junpei was surprised by her appearance. Leaning forward, cigarette dangling from her lips, she looked more like she'd be at home serving behind a bar. She was dressed professionally in a shirt, vest and skirt that were monochrome. Her golden tie shimmered as she moved. She was far too formal to be working on an island wharf. 'You're not what I expected.'

'Sorry—' Junpei started before realising he didn't know why he was apologising and stopped mid-sentence. He looked at her confused. She gave him a pertinent stare and a flat smile. She stubbed her cigarette out between her fingers, flicked her wrist and produced a formal looking document.

Junpei guessed she was a magician.

'Don't worry, all it says is that you'll accept full responsibility for your actions. You know, the usual stuff.'

'D-do I just... read it?' Junpei left her holding the piece of paper. All he'd been told by the ferry company was that he'd need to have them confirm his boarding ticket at the other end.

'You must sign the contract if you wish to use our services.'

'The company told me I just needed to have my ticket validated?' He pulled the ticket out of his pocket to demonstrate.

'This contract allows you access to beyond and you will need it for the following trials,' she responded. Junpei gazed around, trying to find someone to ask for help. Nobody else was around but it felt strange, like they should be there but were just missing.

'Where are we?' Junpei asked.

'Osumi Port Wharf. Do I take it to mean that you are not signing our contract?' There was an impatience in her tone. Honestly, it was probably easier to sign it.

'Fine,' Junpei gave in. She produced a pen out of nowhere, which he took without comment and signed his name on the contract. _Junpei Matsui_.

'Thank you.' She waved away the contract. 'My name is Frederieke and I will be your host in the Golden Playhouse.'

'The what—'

'It is a place that exists between dreams and reality, between mind and matter. You have been destined for greatness but someone has taken it upon themselves to interfere. I am here to facilitate your original purpose as best I can.'

Junpei stared blankly.

'Soon you will awaken to your power and the others to theirs,' Frederieke stepped forward, through the ticket booth and offered the first sign of emotion Junpei had seen. Her smile was mischievous. 'The coming year was meant to be how you would define yourself. Now that a destiny has been placed upon your head, I wonder how you will carry yourself.'

She flicked her wrist and placed the lit cigarette that appeared between her lips.

'You would do well to remember that no one can escape themselves.' Frederieke offered that advice with an air of finality and stepped around the corner of the wharf. A few seconds later when Junpei shook off his confusion and chased after her, she was nowhere to be seen.

He blinked. He blinked more. As silly as it was, he pinched himself. Some guy in a suit bumped into him, offered an insincere 'sorry-didn't-see-you-there' without turning back and continued walking. That strange feeling had gone now and there was... the hustle and bustle wasn't quite the right word, given it was forty or so people, but life was back in the wharf.

Junpei checked his phone. He had two new messages, both from the vaguely familiar number of his step-sister he hadn't saved yet. He flicked a text back.

 **saki** : im just in the parking lot, black toyota supra

 **saki** : hey where r u?

 **junpei:** sorry, difficulties with ticket. coming out now

Outside of the passenger terminal, the majority of the port was devoted to cargo. It almost seemed like the passenger element was an after thought. Junpei walked past the chain link fences, wandering around trying to figure out the right car park. After a couple of turns into shuttered areas, he found a bus stop with a sign that looked like one from the text books and a small row of parking. He guessed ten or so cars could park here.

He mentally tallied it as the first notch in his dislike belt.

A car's horn blasted out a few times. He saw the only car that was still on, an old and dusty model and walked over towards it. He tried to gauge that it was his step-sister through the window. Sure, they'd video-called this morning and he'd followed her on Twitter since the decision to send him to Osumi but he'd never actually met her.

'Hey,' she called out as she wound down the window. 'Throw your bag in the back.'

Saki Matsui looked like a more western mix of hipster and professional than Junpei normally saw in Tokyo. Her hair was black, messy and long and her ears had large stretchers in them. She wore thick framed glasses on and a sourness to her that seemed permanent.

Junpei could count the facts he knew about her on his fingers. She was three years older than him; she was an undergraduate from Kyoto University; she was clever enough to be offered an internship at the Japan Institute of Space and Exploration. Based on her Twitter bio, she liked hip hop, had recently visited South Korea and was willing to be openly critical of the Ruling Party. He was also pretty sure she owned a dog but his father had given a definitive no to that question.

Junpei did his best to be polite as got in the car. He caught her stare which he was sure was similar to what he was thinking. He tried to think of what facts she could have learned from his info, especially since he'd culled as much as he could after the reporters started asking questions. He was sure their father would have told her more about him than he'd gotten about her.

Probably because Junpei had strictly tried not to ask.

'Alright, it'll take about ten minutes to get back to mine. I'll take you through Osumi tomorrow so you can get your bearings, yeah?'

'Sounds good.' Junpei felt his stomach start to sink. He really was here. It had seemed more like a day trip until this point.

The trip was uneventful. They made small talk about the ferry, about how the weather had been oddly hot lately. Conversation stopped abruptly whenever it came to their father or their new living situation. Saki seemed to skirt around the town as she drove home instead of go through it and Junpei avoided trying to sightsee. He was worried it would only grow the sinking feeling.

The apartment was more modern than he would have guessed from what he saw of the town. It was four stories tall, each apartment with their own small balcony. Saki parked on the street and headed inside, Junpei following behind her. She swiped into the building, made a comment about how there was a pass for him upstairs and hit the lift.

They were on the third level, apartment C he learned. The lift was quiet and when she unlocked the apartment with a key, she was quick to walk in and grab her laptop off the table and retreat into her room. Junpei stood awkwardly for a moment and then decided it was his place too now, he should look around.

The apartment interior was clearly newer than the outside. It was a lot of modern woods, white paints and minimalist furniture. It was the sort of thing he knew he'd seen on a few of the blogs he followed. The paintings were Edo, or at least Edo-style.

The kitchen appliances seemed older than anything else in the house and both of the rooms had their doors pulled shut. He poked his head in the bathroom and decided it was too early to comment on the mess of bottles and products.

'Hey,' he called out. 'I'm not sure which room mine is?'

'Sorry,' she pushed a door open and stuck her head out. 'This one will be. I'm just cleaning a few things first.' The rooms ran lengthways along the apartment, separated by the bathroom. After a few more minutes of awkwardly standing there and some ruffling, Saki came out of the room with a half-filled garbage bag and laptop in one hand.

'So,' she paused. 'Something came up and I didn't get to rearrange the house. _We're_ ,' she stressed, 'going to have to move most of my university things out of here. I've bought a futon already and put your boxes in here, so we'll just need to set that up and it'll be liveable at least.'

'Thank you,' Junpei said. He got the impression Saki expected him to be grateful for this level of support even though it was literally providing him a place to sleep. _Father is making this happen. Be made at him,_ he thought to himself as much as about her.

They spent the rest of the afternoon and the evening disassembling the furniture that had been set up. Junpei actually had the room with the balcony, which from the looks of the rubbish was the beer, cigarettes and computer binge room before this. Some of the furniture, namely the shelves, was built into the walls and it seemed like Saki had ordered a futon that fit specifically into the space available and had some kind of idea of how she would have rearranged the room. At least she wasn't lying, Junpei guessed.

Once they'd moved the books out, Saki had somewhat disappeared and left Junpei to his own devices. She'd checked in at least twice, mostly to confirm what he wanted for dinner and then to bring him the ramen they had delivered.

By dinner time, he'd set up his futon and started to unpack a few of his items. He knew he needed a desk and some storage and was halfway through drafting the e-mail to his father when she chimed in that she'd been given money to help him sort that out and they'd do it tomorrow. He got the impression she just didn't want their father to know.

Nothing remarkable happened for the rest of the night. Between both of them being engrossed in their phones once they'd eaten dinner and especially now that Junpei had wifi again, the tiredness from rearranging the house and the massive change in his life that today had been, Junpei crawled into bed with a polite goodbye a lot earlier than he normally would and rather than wallow in a mix of emotions like he'd expected to, he fell straight into a deep sleep.


	2. 16-4 Sunday Lunch, Afternoon, Evening

16/4 Sunday / Lunch, Afternoon, Evening

It wasn't right to say that Junpei was overdressed but he'd clearly put more thought into his clothes than anyone else around. He was dressed neatly in a collared shirt, black slacks and boots. His short black hair was neat, kept in place with some pomade. Saki, who had dressed as formally as he had, didn't have the same sense of care about her.

It was the first of many ways Junpei was going to feel out of place in Ōsumi.

Everything else in the izakaya had a general sense of relaxed dishevelment to it, even the service. Saki had slumped into the open window frame, waiting patiently for the food they'd ordered half an hour ago. Junpei sat upright, looking around without trying to seem impatient.

'Sorry, people hadn't told me about…' Saki waved her hand towards the kitchen. The place was full of locals who seemed to be there to drink beer, not necessarily eat on time. 'All anyone ever says about this place is how good their yakitori is.'

'We've waited this long,' Junpei shrugged. He thought it would be rude to get back on his phone, so he put it face down on the bench. The silence dragged on. 'We should probably talk.'

A look of alarm flashed over her face. Wrong choice of words, Junpei thought. She's your step-sister, you're not breaking up with her. He thought back to the dumb ice breaker games he'd been forced to play during the cafes at his high school culture festival.

'If you were standard on a desert island, what three items would you want to have with you?' Saki opened her mouth in response, paused, looked confused and sat upright. It was very clear she was trying to suss him out as she hadn't expected this.

'Ice breakers?' she said with some exasperation. She shook her head in what seemed like disapproval or maybe disbelief.

'Look, my dad... er, our dad, I guess, is such a dick. I'd be really mad if I was in your position given he's shipped you here from _Tokyo_ ,' Saki stressed the word with jealousy. 'He's moved you as far away from reporters as he could and now you're forced to live with someone you barely know. We don't need to do a forced get to know you thing, we're stuck together already.'

'You really hate ice breakers,' Junpei tried to joke. Saki's frustration cracked but only briefly. 'I'd be madder if I was in your position,' Junpei started after a moment. 'You seemed to be pretty set up in that place. Because of mom's health, we moved around a bit. She was always in the city because that's where health services were— oh, thank you,' Junpei stopped mid-sentence as their food was finally served.

There were several yakitori more than they had ordered and an extra side dish of edamame. Guessing they'd been compensated due to the wait, Junpei decided to lose his bitterness about the place. Despite his somewhat serious train of conversation, they both gave an unspoken agreement to dive in to the food.

It was good but not great. Maybe a six, the seven would be the hunger talking. In Tokyo, he'd have held off to take the right pictures and be halfway through mentally creating the review. It was a hard habit to break.

When there'd been the first realisation about who he was and the media started to run their reports about the scandal, he'd thought it would be good exposure and his online presence would take off. After a threatening phone call from the Matsui family lawyer, he'd been forced to shut his website down. After the first week, he hadn't missed at as much as he'd thought he would.

'Snap out of that thought,' Saki had a look of concern on her face.

'What?'

'How this was anyone's fault other than dad/'

'Oh, I was thinking about the food.' She raised an eyebrow. He felt he needed to say more. 'It was good.'

'Not Tokyo good though,' she sighed. 'Ōsumi isn't even exciting enough to call it out in the boondocks.'

'Aren't we going on a grand tour after this? You're not really selling it to me with that attitude.'

'That's the problem,' she rolled her eyes in annoyance. 'I've thought about it all morning and I'm not actually sure what there is to show you. You're a minor. The only things I've found to do here are work and drink and I can't exactly show you the bars. A few years from now and it'll be better but...' She let out a long, frustrated sigh.

Conversation didn't really pick up. Saki seemed to be too frustrated and caught up in her own thoughts to contribute much and after awhile, Junpei stopped trying to force the discussion. After they had both eaten, Saki paid for the meal and they crossed a couple of quiet streets to where the car had been parked and started their so-called grand tour.

Saki had been right about Ōsumi. There wasn't a lot to it.

The drive through all of Ōsumi took thirty minutes and that was with Junpei rounding up. They had managed to go all along the main route and then through some back roads to do a complete loop. The town had been built around the small harbour and expanded out in a crescent moon shape. It was fairly flat and where the mountains rose up, the town disappeared.

Saki drove them back to the harbour, the obvious main spot of town. Split by a river, the harbour had a shopping district on the north side and an industrial district on the south. Looking out from where the car was parked, there was a long road of strip malls, businesses and a supermarket that hadn't been renovated since the eighties in the shopping district.

The south side of the river was the rough part of town according to Saki. Good takeaway and where she takes her car to get fixed but not worth visiting socially. She'd continued with the run down as they drove around the side streets, the descriptions mostly talking about what was in each section of town and the best way to get there.

No matter where you went in town, it was hard to escape the four distinct towers of the Saikaidō Space Centre jutting up into the sky. Covering the entire island cape north of town and connected by a newly tarred road, it was the island's main attraction and after recent funding commitments and developmental programmes, was booming towards the main source of employment.

Most of the locals worked had always worked in agriculture. There had been some mining in Mt Asa but following an earthquake a couple of years ago, this work had never really resumed. The local distillery had recently been acquired by a larger company and this had helped with the growing unemployment. Things were still not great for the district however the Saikaidō Space Centre overshadowed all these problems.

It was hard to describe the distinct impression a futuristic complex sitting right next to a town that had barely changed in the last fifty years gave. Junpei was certainly impressed. He had commented on a few of the modern redevelopments through town or that seemed to be under way and asked if they were expansion by the Institute.

Saki had explained that the growth of the Space Centre had brought people who didn't find the island to be as quaint as it was made out to be and who were willing to pay for it.

'I don't want to simplify it,' Saki said, preparing to simplify it. 'They don't want to bring in the newest changes. They have pride in who they are. It normally doesn't matter since the District Council has supported most changes petitioned by us at the Space Centre. Still... you can't hold back the future!'

After awhile of what Junpei was going to call sightseeing, they went to the local furniture shop and arranged delivery for the next day of the basic furniture to complete his room. Back at the apartment, it was an uneventful dinner and Junpei spent most of the night in his room.

Despite the fact that he knew he should have known better, he spent an hour or so chasing down his friends from Tokyo and seeing what they were up to. It made him an odd mix of angry and frustrated as he saw that all the regular things were happening. They were all still spending their break days in Shibuya and there wasn't even hints that they were missing him. He closed his phone at least twice out of annoyance, deciding he was better off without them, before going back to looking.

With a low battery warning and a head full of frustrations, Junpei eventually drifted off to sleep.


	3. 17-4 Monday Daytime

The heatwave settled in overnight and it seemed like Ōsumi crawled with activity in the morning to get out of the way of the rising temperatures. The furniture store had taken it upon themselves to reschedule their delivery and arrived early in the morning. Junpei felt somewhat better and somewhat worse that his room had been completely changed to be his. It felt incomplete but permanent which was both better and worse.

Over breakfast, Saki had tried to set the ground rules. She worked at least eight hours a day and would likely be gone before he needed to leave for school. Thanks to the outrageous decision to exclude university programs like hers from the national labor laws, that was how she put it any way, there would be times where she would have to work twelve-to-fourteen hours. They'd both agreed that they didn't need to check in with each other but would both tell their father or anyone who asked that they did.

Junpei had originally planned to check out his new school today. It always sucked being the transfer student and he figured he'd at least get his bearings of what the place looked like. Saki had dropped him off, driving somewhat out of her way to show him where the buses ran so he wouldn't have to walk back.

By the middle of the day, it was forty degrees and Junpei regretted his decision to be outside. He was at least impressed by Akaogi High School as he walked around the school limits. It was the biggest school he had ever seen and the only one on the island. Most of the schools Junpei had attended or seen in Tokyo were small and tucked into suburban areas through Tokyo with the exception of a few exclusive national schools that clearly advertised this fact.

Akaogi on the other hand took an entire block out of Ōsumi, the main buildings at the front stretching out into a huge green field. It seemed like a picturesque scene from one of his history text books. Nothing looked like it had been changed since the sixties when the school had been founded. It was only looking at the town around the school and the mismatched buildings that ruined the scene.

To one side of the school was a row of concrete box apartments. Junpei had read online that there was school housing where the students who lived on more remote areas of the island would stay during the week. The commentary was that it was bland, boring and purposely designed to keep students in line.

Junpei completed his circuit of the school, in dire need of some shade and the bathroom. Directly across from the school was a park and some vending machines and he made his way over. It seemed like the obvious spot that school kids would hang out in and he saw a building that was almost certainly public toilets. If they were locked, at least there'd be trees.

The gate to the bathrooms was unlocked. Junpei headed in and stopped in his tracks. The closest cubicle to the entrance had one large, well-muscled individual holding another skinny kid's head suspiciously close to the toilet water. There was the gurgle of water signally it had just finished flushing.

Junpei and the well-muscled man made eye contact for a very long second.

'Sup dude? Don't you knock?' the man asked in a very straightforward fashion.

'Do you need a few more minutes or...?' Junpei thought it would be a bad idea to do anything but follow the social cues or he guessed he'd quickly find himself in the next stall.

'Nah,' the man said, grabbing sheets of toilet paper. 'Just wiping up.' With that, he smushed it into the bowl and the kid gave a struggle that indicated life but not much willpower. Junpei stared awkwardly.

'All yours,' the man smiled and indicated towards the bathroom as if it was now free.

Junpei sidled up to a urinal and he saw the man clearly watching him in the mirror while he washed his hands. Junpei waited for him to leave before relieving himself. On his way out, he peered in to see that the kid was still alive. He was met with a groan of pain and a 'please stay out of this' which he agreed was probably the best thing to do.

As he exited the bathroom, he was met with a very hard pat on his shoulder.

'Sorry bout that,' the man grinned. 'He's owed me ¥15,000 since last semester. Avoided me all break.'

'You... go to school here?' It probably wasn't the first question that should come out of that but Junpei was so surprised at the fact.

The man- no, the kid, was almost 6 foot and scarily well built. He was dressed in rich blue gym pants, a white singlet that was wet with liquids Junpei didn't want to identify and his chest seemed to bulge with muscles. He'd shaved his head and all around was the most intimidating person, let alone school kid, Junpei had ever met.

'Yeah man! Name's Akira Kodama. I'm a senior, second year.' He studied Junpei. 'Don't think I've seen you around before.' It wasn't a question but it was clear he expected an answer.

'I'll be beginning tomorrow as a transfer student,' Junpei thought it would be best to avoid identifying who he was. Maybe he'd give him the guy a fake name.

'Cool, well, we can just keep that to ourselves, right?' Akira gestured towards the bathroom.

'Yep,' Junpei said a little too quickly. Akira grinned. It was a wide, happy and somewhat terrifying grin.

'See you tomorrow then,' Akira waved and walked off. He headed into the park, jumped down a decline instead of take the steps and disappeared into the park. Junpei's feeling that he'd dodged a bullet quickly faded as he realised in a small town like this, he wouldn't be able to avoid a kid like that whether or not he knew his name.

Junpei gave it a minute for good measure then headed back towards the bus stop. It wasn't as good shade as the building but he thought it would be better to put some distance between him and that Akira guy.

He waited at the bus stop. The bus was due two minutes ago. Now it was due five minutes ago.

It was exactly midday and he'd given up on this bus coming. His phone was running low on battery, he didn't have enough yen on him for a new bottle of water from the vending machine and his list of complaints about Ōsumi was only growing. He checked his phone to see where he could go to get a lift back to his apartment instead of risk walking home in the heat.

Junpei suddenly felt deeply unnerved. It was too hot for him to say a chill ran down his spine but it was a similar feeling. He looked up from his phone and looked around. The sky seemed tainted, clouds dark and dirty and the sky was a dark orange filled with swirls of green. It was a huge contrast from the bright blue skies and glaringly intense sun he'd been in a moment a go.

He jumped up from the bus stop, turned around nervously. He tried to unlock his phone, it seemed to be frozen.

Something golden danced by in front of him. Junpei thought it was a moth or maybe a butterfly. It made him think of that strange lady that he'd met when he got off the ferry, something he had forgotten until now. It struck him as odd that he'd forgotten that.

'Soon you will awaken to your power and the others to theirs,' the bored voice echoed in his mind.

Junpei looked towards the school. It seemed normal. Outside of the strange colour it had taken on, the town seemed normal too. Beyond the town however was the Saikaidō Space Centre and that was no longer normal.

Adorned atop the largest spire seemed to be the moon.


	4. 17-4 Monday ?

Tainted bright red in the strange sky, the moon loomed over Ōsumi.

It was so surreal that Junpei didn't feel worried. Creeped out, possibly having a psychotic break, sure. That was likely. The moon having fallen from the sky only to be stuck on a tower? That seemed a lot less likely and Junpei was much more certain something was wrong with him, not the world around him.

It felt weird to say about a building but the Saikaidō Space Centre radiated feelings. He glanced around at each tower and the throng of buildings in between and he felt something start to well up inside of him.

An enormous siren blasted out over Ōsumi. It was old, reminding Junpei of the old training videos from when America had invaded the country. It seemed to be coming from the Space Centre itself, one of the towers humming with vibrations.

It was hard to turn away from the ominous buildings but Junpei forced himself to as he searched for any cause of alarm.

Looking around with an unusual calmness, Junpei noticed that the area around Saikaidō Space Centre had changed. Some of the changes were subtle, others disturbing. There was a huge military style barrier built around the area and the shadows of the concrete blocks were pockmarked with neon colours and specks of white. It seemed to be dancing around, trying to grasp at anything that came near the veil.

When he'd seen it from afar yesterday, the Space Centre had been part of the green forestry that covered the island. What wasn't covered in shadow now was either gnarled, the epitome of a haunted forest, or uprooted and left for dead. It looked like machines had torn through the ground and the more he listened out for it, the more he could hear a general hum of mechanical activity where he assumed there were machines at work behind the barrier.

In the light, the grass had turned neon green and Junpei took a few very intentional steps away from the encroaching greenery to plant his feet solidly on the road. The sudden change to the world was too strange for Junpei to know where to start unravelling things.

He joked to himself that he might be able to be the first to review this place on a blog then quickly felt crazy for making light of the situation and not panicking. The more he thought about it, the more he realised he should be panicking.

The siren wailed out again.

Junpei made the most obviously decision he could and decided to walk, no, jog in the opposite direction of the Saikaidō Space Centre. He made it what felt like several hundred metres before turning around and looking back. Everything was crawling with activity now in a way that it hadn't been before. Something rumbled deep in the ground. Junpei's immediate reaction was to brace himself for an earthquake.

Nothing came but more rumbling and the sense of activity only seemed to intensify. Glancing at Saikaidō, it felt more frantic now.

The barrier of shadow seemed to be expanding and now that he looked at it, it had moved a lot faster than Junpei had. The distance closed between them, tendrils stretching forward as if they were trying to reach him. Small specks of things seemed to glow and swirl around, giving Junpei the distinct impression that things were swimming through the veil.

Junpei ran took one look and ran. The shadow burst forward after him and when it had stretched far enough, separated into it's own mass. Against his better judgement, Junpei paused. Inside the pool of shadow was a masquerade mask. It glowed white like the moon.

The normal moon, Junpei corrected himself.

The shadow rippled and jumped up, forming itself into a towering body. It seemed more like ooze now.

The form seemed like a mismatch of ideas about what the word 'guard' evoked. It's body was shaped like a medieval town guard but the texture and look seemed more modern, more decorative with pauldrons and frills. It was uneven in shape, several feet taller than Junpei with an enormous chest and shoulders hulking over tiny legs. It's entire head was the luminescent mask. It swung an enormous sword that had formed out of the shadows that Junpei hadn't even noticed.

He swore to himself about missing a deadly weapon form before his eyes.

'No pass!' The thick blade fell forward, smashing into the road. The shadow angrily tried to pull the blade, now stuck in the concrete out. 'No no no no no!' It cawed.

Taking his chance, Junpei tried to run. He made it about three steps before an impossibly outstretched arm grabbed him and hurled backwards. He flew backwards, crashing into the ground, his leg twisting awkwardly. He grunted in pain.

His shoulder where he'd been grabbed was an unusual sensation. It burned and he felt like he'd been poked by a fire brand but there was no physical sensation to go with it. It felt like it burned more in his mind.

'No,' it demanded, walking back to it's sword.

Junpei tried to stand back up, stumbling on his leg. It hurt more than he expected, the pain in his shoulder disappearing entirely and replaced with real pain in his ankle. If he hadn't been able to run before, he knew he wouldn't be make it anywhere now.

He decided to try anyway, a real fear starting to set in as Junpei eyed the sword in the concrete.

As Junpei rose to his feet, the shadow gleefully pulled the sword out of the concrete and turned proudly towards Junpei. The fear was now becoming full fledged panic. Junpei ran, stumbled and tripped. He kept trying to roll away from the shadow, ending in a half crawl before he could stand back up. He looked back towards the shadow.

Junpei had expected it to be chasing after him, that sword moments away from ending his life but it was watching him stumble. Unlike Junpei, the shadow was looking where he was going. Junpei turned forwards just in time for the dancing veil of shadows to jump forward and engulf him.

Junpei wasn't sure what to expect. He weirdly floated, suddenly feeling weightless physically but like the weight of the world existed within him. He grabbed at his throat, feeling the breath leave and his attempt to suck in air failing to achieve anything.

Something in his head spoke out.

'What's the matter? Are you simply going to die? Do you not hunger for something more?' the voice boomed. Junpei felt like his eyes might burst out of his head, his vision blurring. The pressure swirled inside of him, offering him familial warmth. It seemed so inviting, like all the answers in the world were there.

'The world is a feast where only those of unclean hands may enjoy the real spoils. Eat from your own hands or starve in theirs.' Junpei struggled, his body twisting wildly in the free fall. It seemed like parts of him were letting go, following the swirl inside of him but then the instincts inside of him flared up and he attempted to hold on to who he was.

He wanted to turn away from the calls, he wanted to be who he was and nobody else.

 _'No,_ ' Junpei's voice echoed. Junpei screamed louder than he ever had, a howl of rage. The wishes of those around him were why he was here. He wasn't going to disappear into them!

'You have finally found your appetite,' the voice in his head, harsh and gargantuan, laughed. Something exploded inside of him and Junpei found himself standing on solid ground, the veil of shadows burned away.

 _'_ I am thou and thou art I,' the voice roared. 'From the sea of your soul and your taste of power, I am the hungry god — Apiztetl!'

Something ripped it's way out of Junpei, forming from static in the air. It paused for a moment to turn in recognition. There was something familiar, about it, old connections forming. Junpei felt it was like seeing an old friend, the word _persona_ resonating in his head and escaping his lips. A satisfied smile arrived on both their faces.

Apiztetl looked back towards the well-kept human whose call he had heeded. Apiztetl flexed his muscles, the first time in a very long time he had been able to step forth with his own legs. He adjusted his ornate helm, his sunken eyes peering out through the mask. The weight of the helm, adorned with the huge antlers of the deer god he had devoured and decorated in the plucked feathers of Quetzalcoatl that his meals had been garnished with, felt right now that he set foot on solid ground.

Apiztetl's armour clinked as it settled in place, the unblemished pauldrons of bone white, leather and gold-speckled wrappings on his wrists and ankles. Otherwise the hungry god was clothed in only his leather apron which twisted unnaturally in place as he moved, a belt of tiny faces holding it close to his pale black skin. In one hand, he lazily held an enormous mallet that looked like an ancient meat tenderiser or a modern Aztec maquahuitl.

Apiztetl and Junpei stood in the clearing that the burst of energy had made in the shadows. Apiztetl's grin was lost in the open mouth of razored teeth that his helm ended in. The shape of a human chin and teeth inside gave the impression of endless rows of teeth, the most hungry mouth that Junpei could imagine.

The shadow guard stepped back hesitantly, it's body twitching unnaturally. Something in Junpei, perhaps Apiztetl's recognition of the fact, indicated that the shadow was going to try to collapse and flee. Junpei knew that would not be a good thing.

Apiztetl moved with great dexterity on feet that were in fact hands. He stopped short of the masked shadow, his feet perched on the thumb as if it was a heel and licked his lips.

Apiztetl waited impatiently for Junpei's acknowledgement. It wasn't coming and the veil was cautiously reaching back towards the teenager. Junpei looked down horrified, looked up at Apiztetl. There were no words but there was a clear intent to the look: _help_.

Apiztetl leapt forward in an attack, smashing his tenderiser into the shadowy guard's body. The shadow fell backwards before shooting back up wildly like an inflatable man. He continued to flail, Apiztetl deftly leaping far enough out of the way to avoid it's reach.

He forced the command out of Junpei, an oddly calm command of _kouha_ escaping from his lips and feeding the persona. Apiztetl lifted his arms into the air, a pillar of light calling down and erupting upon the shadowy guard. It seemed to deflate in on itself.

Apiztetl pounced forward, all four hands grabbing on to the body. He ripped parts out with his hands, quickly bringing them up to his mouth and dropping them through the mask and into his real mouth. Once the guard had stopped moving entirely, Apiztetl dangled the luminescent mask in a princely fashion above his open maw with his lower arms.

He looked at Junpei for approval, the human nodding with no real sense of what he agreed to. Apiztetl let the mask drop and the moment it was between his teeth, he chomped hard and started to devour the shadow's true essence.

Junpei felt a pulse in his mind, pulling him out of the existence of Apiztetl. He looked and saw the veil had encroached on him again. He looked towards his persona for help but saw the creature on his knees, praying towards the sun. Thick lines started to sprout along the pale black skin of Apiztetl, glowing colourlessly.

There was something unsaid that passed between them which Junpei couldn't quite hold on to, his consciousness rapidly fading.

The last thing Junpei remembered before passing out was the very bored female voice saying 'oh dear.'


	5. 18-4 Tuesday Morning

Junpei woke up on his futon in his room and with the distinct feeling that the strange events from yesterday were not dreams. He lay in bed for a long while thinking back over what had happened; the ominous moon looming over Ōsumi; his persona Apiztetl and the strange veil that had consumed him.

His alarm interrupted his thoughts. It was his first day at Akaogi High. He stared idly at his phone. It was almost a surreal thought compared to the emotions running through him about what had happened yesterday, until the thought really sunk in.

It was his first day at the new school. He leapt up, ran to the bathroom, showered, brushed his teeth and unpacked the new uniform his father had ordered for him. It was a more modern uniform at least, something Junpei hadn't expected given the buildings. He changed into the white shirt, black blazer, grey trousers. He slipped on his own own black boots and tied his gold plaid tie of the school colours in a formal, neat knot. He checked that he everything was neat and walked out of his room, instantly meeting the gaze of an annoyed Saki who had sat where she could stare at his room.

'Do you always leave your alarm going for so long?' she frowned, voice dripping with some sarcasm.

'No, sorry,' Junpei wasn't sure how long he'd been zoned out. He didn't think it was very long, he'd sneak a glance at the time later to double check.

Junpei made breakfast, his mind still half on what had happened yesterday. Saki stared at him with frustration and concern the entire time. It seemed like she went to say something several times but every time Junpei met her eyes, she looked away or rolled her eyes and went back to using her phone.

'I'll drive you to school,' Saki announced as Junpei ducked into his room to get his bag before leaving for the bus. She was suddenly up, impatiently standing around with her car keys in her hand.

'...okay...?' Junpei agreed. He was starting to have a sinking feeling that something was wrong. He wasn't really sure how he'd gone from the school – no, from that strange world – to his bed this morning. He thought he'd heard that lady from the port and then everything else was a mystery.

The drive to school was uneventful. Junpei had almost expected to see Saikaidō Space Centre as the same weird place it had been yesterday but as he caught a glimpse of the towers from a hill they drove over, everything about it seemed normal. He wasn't sure if he felt relieved or not by that.

'I'm not going to have to be worried you're not going to show up to school, am I?' Saki sighed as she pulled into a parking bay. 'I thought we understood how we'd go about this situation.'

'No, I'll be going to school,' Junpei answered, hoping it sounded like he meant it.

'I get that things aren't okay with how you've been thrown here,' Saki's eyes were focused on the steering wheel. 'I don't want to seem like I don't care or like you're on your own, I know dad is a dick, but I can't be worrying about these every day things. I came home early just to check on you and you were already sleep at five in the afternoon and didn't wake up until this morning...'

It was good to know that he'd gotten home somehow. Maybe it was all a dream after all... Saki's glare interrupted his thoughts.

'The bus home after I'd checked out the school didn't arrive,' Junpei admitted. He decided he had to fill in the blanks for Saki at least and went as plausible as possible. 'I had to walk home and in the heat, I was pretty out of it by the time I got home so I don't really know what time that was. It was still hot and I was drenched in sweat and felt woozy. I pretty much just had a shower to cool down, drank as much water as I could and fell asleep. I didn't think I'd sleep for so long.'

That seemed believable, Junpei thought. He could see the gears turning in Saki's head as she considered it.

'So I don't need to worry,' she both asked and confirmed.

'No, you don't.'

Things seemed a bit lighter as they said goodbye and Junpei headed into the school for the first time.


	6. 18-4 Tuesday School

It seemed like most people had already peeled off into groups in the hallways, catching up with each other after the break. The most consistent thing Junpei overheard in the halls were a lot of complaints about the weather but nothing about yesterday being particularly unusual or anyone being sucked into another world or strange guards or creatures coming out of them...

It had been a bit much to expect. He put it out of his mind as best he could, at least for trying to survive this new challenge.

Junpei had to stop and ask one of the staff members where his classroom was. He was pointed towards the third floor of the older building and made his way more or less on time. He realised by now there were a few stares, a few realisations that he was a transfer student but nobody had tried to make conversation with him.

His classroom seemed like any other classroom. There was an assembly of old wooden chairs and desks, the teacher's table at the front and a clean blackboard. Guessing there was assigned seating, Junpei stood to the side of the room and waited.

A few groups of students had formed to talk about their break, other students sat at their desks in varying states of dismay at having to head back to school. No matter how different this town was, the school room was just the same.

The teacher came in and looked around the room causing a noticeable change of behaviour in the room. He was a larger man with a thick grey moustache and a receding hairline, dressed in a full suit that looked too hot for the current weather. The teacher saw Junpei and beckoned him over.

'You're the new transfer student, Junpei Matsui, correct?' he asked in a lowered voice.

'Yeah,' Junpei nodded.

'I'm Mr Fujisaka,' he extended his hand. 'I'll give it a minute more for people to arrive and then I'll introduce you to your class.' He seemed like he was a nicer teacher than most.

'I've arranged for the class rep to provide you a tour of the school during the first class while we collect homework. It'll help avoid some gossip.' Mr Fujisaka left it unsaid that he was fully aware of the news stories about Junpei Matsui, love child of one of Japan's greatest baseball stars.

This was much better than his teachers had been in Tokyo.

'Alright, sit down everyone,' Mr Fujisaka called out. Everyone had already been seated but it was habit for someone who'd been teaching that long. 'It's spring now and I'm glad to see you all back, ready to study and with your homework from the break completed.' There were a few groans.

'Before we begin, allow me to introduce our new transfer student. Matsui-san here has transferred from Tokyo. Do you have a few words?' He smiled as him and everyone else in the room turned to face Junpei.

'Good morning everyone,' Junpei bowed. 'My name is Junpei Matsui and I am looking forward to studying with you all. I hope you will excuse me if I ask any lame questions while I find my way around the school.'

'Thank you Matsui-san. If you would like to leave your bag by your desk,' Mr Fujisaka motioned towards one of the empty seats in the class next to the windows. Junpei headed over, leaving his bag on his table.

'Ohgo-san,' Mr Fujisaka called. 'Please take Matsui-san around the school and ensure that you are back before the end of this class.'

Ohgo was not what Junpei expected from the class rep. In Tokyo, they'd always been studious and ambitious, taking the extra work for their future university applications. Ohgo on the other hand looked uninterested, slouching as he walked. He was lean in an athletic way, hair cut close to his head. As bored as he looked, he seemed scrappy and Junpei guessed he was competitive and probably really into sports.

Junpei introduced himself as they left the class and stood outside.

'Daisuke Ohgo.' They shook hands. 'Sorry, I'm probably not the best one for this, they just make do it for my transcript.' Daisuke shrugged.

The tour of the school took longer than Junpei expected. The first and second years shared the older building while the third years and most of the school facilities had been moved to the newer building. Apparently the library had undergone renovation and been hugely expanded, a gift from the Institute of Space and Exploration to the town but that had happened during the spring break according to Daisuke.

The field was large and Junpei realised half-way through the tour that Daisuke had purposely taken him around the whole area to skip class time. Junpei wasn't quite sure he needed to see the gardens that some students maintained or the crowd of trees that Daisuke described as the school's 'happa hideout' but did find it to be an interesting conversation.

'There's not heaps to do, especially if you're used to a city,' Daisuke admitted as they talked about the town. 'Most of us either go home or to the dorms. Some kids go to the beach but honestly it's not worth it since you'll probably run into that sukeban and her gang,' the way he said it made it sound like a personal problem though.

'The dorms were better before they gimped our internet, we had this mad set up of everyone's consoles and TVs in the common room...' Daisuke looked wistfully towards the building and added with a grumble, 'The student council president wanted it a different way though...'

'Oh, they let everyone hang out in the dorms? I thought that would be pretty strict.' Junpei asked. The only reviews had made it seem like the dorms would be the worst area of the school.

'Honestly, I think they just know the place is boring so they let us.' said Daisuke. Finishing their excursion around the field, they headed back towards class. 'Any last questions?'

'Not really,' Junpei wasn't sure what to ask. There was no particular question he could add that would help him find new friends in the town. 'Any thing I should probably know? Teachers to avoid, people not to be friends with...'

'The teachers are all okay, no real hard-asses,' Daisuke paused. 'Students... look, Ōsumi is a small place, so anything I could say...' He let it hang. 'I don't want to get caught up in that crap, y'know. I think you'll figure it out quick.'

Junpei thought back to yesterday morning.

The rest of the day was unexciting. Each of the teachers used Junpei as the sounding board of his what knowledge he had about topics he hadn't covered in his last school to introduce the material they'd be covering in the new semester and by the end of the day, he just wanted to slink away. Somehow he got the impression that everyone in his class had learned a lot about him but the only real conversation he'd had was with Daisuke.

There was only one bus bay and Junpei found the bus that went back to his house easily. Nobody really talked to him except for some hushed conversations he'd accidentally entered about how he was the new transfer student.

Sitting down in the bus, resting his head against the bus window. The hairs on his neck stood up and Junpei had the distinct impression that he was being watched. He immediately flashed back to the feeling yesterday before everything got weird but after closing his eyes a few long seconds and looking around, he was still just on the school bus.

Standing in the shade under a tree nearby was Akira Komada. He seemed more like a student in the school uniform although it was clear that it was sizes too big to fit. It was clear as Junpei looked at him, that Akira had been watching him.

As the bus left, Akira flashed Junpei a grin and walked off. Junpei decided this was one of the things that he was going to have to figure out quickly.


	7. 18-4 Tuesday Evening

_Pi pi pi pi pi._ Junpei's phone vibrated along the the table.

 **saki:** working back late, r u home?

 **junpei:** yes, dont worry, caught the bus back today!

Junpei tried to make light of the situation but his evening had been trying to figure out what happened yesterday, how he got home. There was something in him that resonated when he thought back to what had occurred, something that told him to believe that it had occurred even if there were so many unanswered questions.

 _Pi pi pi pi pi._ Junpei stared at his phone, expecting it to be a message from Saki checking in on him. He contemplated sending her a photo just so wouldn't be asking all night. It was from a different number with an emoji filled GRAND OPENING and image. It was odd to get spam but not like it never happened. He put his phone back down without opening it.

A few minutes later his phone rang. The numbers were odd symbols, not ones Junpei understood and it was impossible to make out what country the number was from. It kept ringing.

'Hello...?' Junpei answered after it became apparent that the phone was going to keep ringing and not go to voicemail.

'Hello, this is Frederieke.'

'Hi...' His memory kicked in. He relaised who she was and remembered hearing her voice as he passed out. 'Hi!' he said again, more excited now that he might get answers.

'Yes, hello,' she reacted poorly to the excitement. 'It seems you have awoken to your Persona. As such, we would like to invite you to the grand opening of our Golden Playhouse. I believe you have received your invitation.'

'My... invitation? Persona? Sorry, can we stop for a second? Did you bring me—'

'You required assistance or you would have been lost to the Beyond.' Frederieke cut in. 'You had saved yourself but lost consciousness in the process. I simply returned you to your home.'

'Okay... that doesn't even begin to answer my questions—'

'The answers we can provide will be provided if you attend our grand opening this Sunday.' Junpei could practically hear her disdain on the phone.

'Look, I'll attend your opening okay? Just tell me where I was? What is this Persona you're talking about? I remember this weird guard and this man fighting him and eating him?' Junpei asked himself as much as her.

'You have awoken to your Persona.' Frederieke's tone of voice was like explaining to a school kid. 'Persona is a great power, something you have possessed the potential to use your entire life. You can think of it as a side of you that shows itself when you face the world around you. You can think of it as a mask of determination you wear to face various difficulties in life and that Shadow was one such difficulty.'

This sounded magical and more like anime than anything real to Junpei but there was the same strange feeling that resonated with him when he thought about what had occurred. Something told him he wasn't being lied to.

'Think of this ability as the power to control one's own heart. This can be strengthened through adversity and the bonds you make, or you could let your own heart control you. This is the contract that you have signed to use our services, the one that says you accept responsibility for your actions.'

'Ummm...' Junpei paused, completely unsure what to say.

'Good, I'm glad we've cleared that up,' Frederieke dripped sarcasm. 'Any additional questions will be answered at our grand opening.'

'Okay...' Junpei acknowledged. It seemed simple but his mind was about three comments back, trying to process the information.

'As with any succesful grand opening, we are hoping for lots of customers.' Something in Frederieke's voice gave away that this was rehearsed, not true. 'It is also important for your power to grow that you strengthen your bonds. We request you that you provide our invitation to anyone that has awoken to their own power.'

'I'm sorry, what?' Junpei did a double take. 'Why would I do that? It'll sound crazy.'

'Not to those who have been to the Beyond,' countered Frederieke. 'Now if you'll excuse me, I must resume preparations. We will see you at the grand opening.'

'Wait—' The phone went dead.

Junpei immediately checked and there was no record of the strange phone call in his call list, no way for him to call back and ask more questions. He looked at the previously unopened text message.

The image attachment had Frederieke, in the same clothes as when he'd met her, holding what looked like a large metallic egg with a satisfied face engraved on it. Draped across them was a banner: GRAND OPENING / HIOKI STRIP MALL / 23 APRIL

He should have slept easier now that he had some answers . He didn't.


	8. 19-4 Wednesday School

At least one person from his class said hello on the bus but nobody tried to talk to Junpei as they had headed to school. He'd sat alone on one of the seats, trying his best to eavesdrop on people without being obvious or weird about it. He didn't learn any interesting gossip, the only real fact he picked up was that the school's sports clubs would be recruiting next week.

Junpei found that the classes were better than yesterday now that teachers were less focused on him. It seemed like the outline of the syllabus was fairly similar to his old school, a bit less advanced and with more of a focus on aerospace and astronomy in Science and due to the historical relevance of the area, the Edo period in Social Studies.

Junpei was resting against the window, trying to look casual. He didn't think being too interested and being teacher's pet would help make friends. He was in Social Studies, Ms Otsuji currently talking about the Japanese recession of the nineties.

The teachers were a lot more relaxed than the ones he had back in Tokyo. In Tokyo, there was always such pressure to get better grades, for the students to do more so that it reflected well on the teachers and the school. That wasn't the case here from what Junpei could tell.

'Japan is often considered the purest example of a _producer economic state,_ and many of its economic practices are widely praised. It was once considered the model for business but due to the recession, this is something that has had to be examined. I believe... actually, question.'

Ms Otsuji looked at Junpei and he knew she was picking him. He perked up to be polite.

'Matsui-san, can you tell me what the practice of keiretsu is?' _Easy,_ thought Junpei. Almost all of his social studies in Tokyo had been business focused so that they could churn out more salarymen and ambitious students.

'Keiretsu is one of the core business practices to Japan. It is when a group of companies, banks and other stakeholders come together with exclusive relationships and part ownerships of each other to strengthen their own ties.'

'Full marks,' Ms Otsuji announced. Junpei knew it sounded rote, it was pretty much the junior school's textbook definition with a few words changed. He glanced around the room, most people seemed impressed that the new kid had been able to answer it.

He smiled to himself and went back to leaning against the wall, trying to not look proud.

'Since the recession, keiretsu has been our changing business model with some enormous successes...' Ms Otsuji continued her lecture.

At lunch time, Junpei walked through the hallways of the school. He felt more than a little transparent as nobody tried to talk to him but it was clear they were happy to talk about him as he passed by. It was only his second day so he wasn't going to beat himself up but it was the kind of listlessness that was hard to not feel bad about.

It seemed like most of Akaogi High went out into the field for lunch and Junpei ate his lunch close to the school buildings as he people watched. He hoped someone would come up and say hello to him, invite him to hang out with them but it was becoming evident that wasn't going to happen today.

After finishing his lunch and spending enough time buried in his phone, he decided he should probably go and try to say hi to someone from his class. The only person he'd really had any interaction with was Daisuke but he looked around the fields and couldn't find him.

'Sup?' a gruff voice called out. Junpei turned towards it, the sun blotting out in the shadow. Oh crap.

'Most of the guys take off back to the dorms,' Akira explained to the question he guessed Junpei was thinking. Without invitation, he sat down next to Junpei and gave him a solemn nod in greeting.

'Oh, hi Komada-san,' Junpei mumbled. He thought back to how Akira had been watching him yesterday and guessed he was about to have a friendly reminder about the events on Monday with the beaten-up student.

'Ah, knock off the formalities,' Akira idly picked at the grass. 'Akira is fine.'

'Alright... thanks,' Junpei wasn't sure he wanted to be friends with this guy. When he'd wanted someone to approach him, he definitely hadn't meant him. Junpei looked around nervously to see if anyone was glancing at the two of them in either worry for his safety or in judgement that they seemed to be friends but nobody seemed to.

'You, uh, you finding this town to be any good?' Akira asked awkwardly after a few minutes of silence. He was making a point of not looking at Junpei. It was not the conversation Junpei had expected it to be.

'It's... very different,' he admitted. 'It doesn't seem bad, it's just not...'

'Yeah,' Akira chuckled. 'It's just not a place anyone would really want to be.' More silence passed between them. Maybe he really was trying to make friends, Junpei thought. If he was beating up people regularly, Junpei guessed he wouldn't have many. Maybe he saw a new person as a new opportunity. 'The other day—'

'I told you, I'm not going to talk,' Junpei interrupted as quick as he could. The weird thought that Akira wanted friendship between the two of them disappeared. Junpei thought it was more likely intimidation and Akira just wasn't too confident in the school grounds. Given what he'd seen Akira do over money, Junpei was going to keep that promise. He stared at the large biceps and tried not to shiver as his mind went wild with the violence they could do.

'Oh, I know you won't,' Akira responded automatically and with the kind of certainty that was as much a threat as it was confidence. After a few seconds, he asked 'Did things uh, did things get weird for you?' Akira's voice wavered in an uncharacteristic way.

It stopped all the assumptions Junpei had dead in his tracks. Junpei stared with shock and knew the real answer was probably written in his face as the two made eye contact for the first real time during this conversation.

'How do you mean weird?' Junpei asked after a few moments consideration, trying to be as coy as possible. It was more likely something weird had happened to Akira that had nothing to do with the strange situations unfolding for Junpei.

'Like... otherworldly, you know, supernatural shit,' Akira said with a shrug. He seemed more embarrassed than Junpei could imagine someone that built was actually capable of being. 'Actually, forget it,' Akira stood up in a huff. 'I sound like a loon,' he added to himself.

'Don't talk to people about this,' Akira threatened and started to walk off.

'Did anybody call you about it... Someone named Frederieke?' Junpei asked. He realised it would sound like a weird question to yell after someone but he had to know he wasn't crazy.

'No,' Akira shook his head. 'No idea what you're talking about man.' As dismissive as he sounded, they both stared at each other and recognised that the unsaid parts of the conversation were probably more related than they'd thought.

The bell rang out. Lunch was over.

Akira and Junpei continued to stare at each other, their thoughts racing. People stepped around them on their way back to class, Junpei overheard a few comments that the gann was picking a fight with the transfer student already although it seemed like anyone who Akira actually looked at was suddenly silent and hurried on.

'The moon?' Junpei c hanced, his voice a little too high.

'The shadow things?' Akira asked back, his voice going higher.

'The siren?'

'The huge excavation?'

'No, I didn't see that,' Junpei shook his head.

The bell rang again. Junpei was late to class.

'Catch the school bus to Urada beach tomorrow,' Akira ordered. 'I feel like we have a lot of questions for each other.'


	9. 20-4 Thursday Afternoon

School had dragged on, worse than it normally did.

Junpei was practically jumping out of his chair. He'd spent his lunch walking around the school trying to find Akira without looking like he was trying to find Akira. He was pretty sure he overheard someone from yesterday talking about how he must be hiding if he'd started shit with _that guy_ but Junpei ignored it.

It was hard to feel self conscious when he felt like he might get an answer about something that objectively seemed like it should be threatening his sanity.

When class had finished for the day, Junpei walked as fast as he could without being suspicious to the buses. The island was known for it's beaches and the two most well-known beaches sat just outside of Ōsumi. After studying the bus maps, Junpei had figured out which buses he could catch to get there and back home.

The school offered one bus that headed south of Ōsumi and ended at Cape Kukinaga, an old fishing village that had been leased to a company and renovated into an upscale holiday resort. After Akira had suggested they meet up, Junpei had researched Urada Beach as much as he could.

It was a generic beach, mostly popular with surfers and honeymooners staying at the resort. The only news Junpei had found about it was that the prefectures grand designs to change the Ōsumi Development Centre from a small historical site devoted to the guns the area was famous for into a modern museum had halted following a public scandal of it's major patron Ichiryusai Madarame.

It seemed secluded enough that people wouldn't be there but not secluded enough that Akira could murder him and get away with it. He'd told Saki he was going to explore the town a bit to see where the other school kids went after school which she'd accepted with a glare but no questions.

Having got off the bus a few minutes ago and walked through what seemed like the main entrance, Junpei now stood awkwardly and realising that this was poorly planned. He had no idea where on the long strip of beach he was meant to meet Akira.

Urada smelt wonderful, the mix of the salt in the air and the warm earthy smells from the sand drifting up but there was nowhere for shade. He kept his eyes out for Akira but took more than a moment to enjoy the only part of Ōsumi he'd found that he liked as he walked along the beach. In the heat of the afternoon sun, the fifteen minutes he paced along the beach felt a lot longer.

After long enough in the sun that he could feel himself getting sweaty and with no success finding a gigantic and excessively muscled teenager that should stand out, Junpei headed towards the resort which was the only real landmark along the beach.

'Hey!' a soft voice called out as he walked on the grass towards the resort. He turned around to the voice, hoping Akira had found him. 'Hey! Get off.'

'What?' Junpei called back, too far away for his words to reach the person running over. An older lady, dressed in plain cleaners clothes of the what he guessed was the resort, came running over to him. She looked annoyed.

'Get off. Go away. This resort is closed to you students,' she demanded.

'I'm sorry, I didn't know.'

'Go away,' she reiterated and made a shooing motion with her hands. 'No students.' She glared at him. Junpei turned to the beach, heading quickly and finally saw Akira who was laughing to himself as he watched this encounter.

'I feel like wherever I am, you're somehow watching me,' Junpei offered grumpily as he got close enough. Akira held his hand against his own chest, exhaled in a long sigh of enjoyment and ended his belly laugh.

'I should have told you where to meet me,' Akira shrugged. '...It was good seeing you get chewed out by the resort staff though.'

'She clearly doesn't like students.'

'No, the whole place hates students. Nagabuchi-san and her gang piss 'em off too much.' Akira looked around the beach. Junpei joined him, not sure what they were looking for. Suddenly Akira turned directly to Junpei, a deadly serious look carved into his face. 'Let's make a deal, we don't bullshit each other.'

'Okay...' Junpei paused, thrown by the intensity written in Akira's face.

'What the fuck was that on Monday? One moment I'm heading back to the gym after sorting out Nakano-kun, the next the moon is there and I'm being chased by these fat glowing blobs.'

'I don't know!' Junpei threw up his hands in surrender. Akira had the same questions he did. 'I was waiting for the bus, then suddenly some guard thing was there and then Apiztetl came and I think I passed out, I'm not really sure but Frederieke took me home she tells me and I'd hoped you had answers.'

'You're going to have to tell me who those people are,' Akira glowered.

'Did they... have you met this...' Junpei paused, trying to decide the best way to put. 'Have you met the bored bartender?'

'No,' Akira answered and waited for more information.

'Did you awaken to your persona?'

'No.'

Junpei suddenly wasn't sure if these were answers he should be giving. He had the strong feeling that Akira was used to getting information out of people and those skills were being used on him.

'I can't really explain it,' Junpei sighed.

'You know more than me, so you're going to try. I want to know as much as possible in case I ever find myself there again,' Akira flexed unconsciously.

'I was running away from some guard thing that was chasing me, I think it's called a Shadow. I fell into that weird veil, the thing that looked like it was from outer space?' Junpei waited, Akira nodded in agreement he'd seen it. 'I felt like I was... not dying but... losing myself. I needed help and something answered. I'm told it was my Persona.'

'Who is telling you this shit? The internet had nothing when I looked.' Akira was exasperated.

'The bartender. They called me. They... oh, hold on.' Junpei grabbed his phone, pulling up the text message of the grand opening. 'I asked a whole lot of questions, they told me to come here if I wanted any real answers.'

Junpei could see Akira committing the details to memory and knew he wouldn't be going there alone any more.

They spent more time discussing what they'd seen. They both agreed on the creepy moon looming over the town, the strange sirens and the shadowy veil. Akira said it looked more like a nebula than anything else. They'd seen very different creatures walking around the place.

'How did you get out of there?' Junpei asked.

'Things were chasing me and I thought I got pretty far from everything but somehow I was right back at Saikaidō. Did you get close to it?' Junpei shook his head. 'The whole place was like a construction site, everywhere was dug up and they had these massive machines roaming it and it seemed like once I got close enough, the things chasing me stopped...'

'And then?' Junpei interjected as Akira trailed off.

'And then I was just... back. It was suddenly all normal. I was just in the off limits area of Saikaidō and I really can't tell you how or why.' Akira shrugged in frustration. 'I didn't have any of this persona thing and no bartender is calling me. Can I see your phone again—'

' _Komada-senpaiiiiii,'_ called a voice from the beach. It seemed like it should be sweet but it had that slightly unhinged tone to it that worried Junpei.

' _Can I see your phone? What photos are you looking at? Naughty stuff?'_ another voice called, breaking out into giggles.

'Fuck,' Akira muttered and withdrew his hand. Junpei pocketed his phone, turned around and saw a gang of ten or so girls walking up. All of them were in Akaogi High uniforms that had been customised, some with cutesy designs, some had been ripped to look tough. Junpei didn't recognise a single girl from school however.

'Good afternoon, Nagabuchi-san,' Akira nodded directly at one of the girls in the back, ignoring the rest. 'Heading up to the resort?'

'Probably. It's too windy out past the Cave,' Nagabuchi-san responded listlessly.

Junpei eyed her as best he could, flinching away when the other girls started to glare at him. Her school uniform was very formal and it seemed dressed up as if it was a posh version of the Akaogi High uniform. Junpei guessed it wasn't actually the school clothes but nicer clothes made to look like the uniform. She had long, straight black hair and bangs and held her sunglasses in one hand as she talked to them.

'Shaking someone else down?' There was some disdain in her voice.

'Yeah,' Akira said forcefully to both the girls and to Junpei. 'Transfer student. He's a big scandal back in Tokyo, figured I'd get in before any of you could with a scam.'

Junpei hadn't realised that Akira knew who he was and was a little bit pissed that he was telling other people. Junpei went to object but the glare from Akira was a very strong message not to talk.

'Ooooh,' the girls cooed.

'I'd heard there was a transfer student,' Nagabuchi-san had stepped forward from the group. Despite the circumstances and impression he was in the middle of a weird schoolyard territory fight, his first real thought about her was that she was very pretty.

'Hello...' she waited.

'Junpei Matsui,' he offered. There was a giggle from one of the girls and he knew he was probably too quick to speak to the pretty girl.

'Hello Matsui-san. If Komada-kun here bothers you, please always know that you can come to me for help.' She half-smiled. 'Oh, how rude. My name is Sarasa Nagabuchi.' Junpei noted she didn't try to introduce any of the other girls. She turned towards them, 'Can we have a moment? Komada-kun and I have some business to discuss. I will meet you at the hotel bar.'

'Oooh,' they cooed again. 'Boss's turf war is going to begin.' They glared in unison at Junpei and Akira. It was terrifying enough to make even Akira wilt. They left with many looks backwards at the group and more than a few heckles and bursts of giggling. Sarasa held her hand against her forehead in embarrassment and waited.

'They're gone, Nagabuchi-san.'

'Drop it with the formalities, Akira.' Sarasa snapped, looking up at the two of them.

'You didn't exactly pick a quiet place to talk about that shit, I could hear you half a beach away.' Sarasa turned towards Junpei, staring with the same seriousness Akira had.

'Tell me more about these Shadows please.'


	10. 21-4 Friday Evening

The last few days had been a whirlwind and this Sunday was promising to be a day that his anxiety and excitement would be addressed. At the beach yesterday, all three of them had made a plan to attend the Grand Opening.

It was the first night that Junpei felt calm and like he might be able to sleep without being kept up all night by his thoughts. Yesterday had been a great day in the fact that he knew he wasn't having a mental breakdown and going insane. It should have scared him to know that something bizarre was happening in Ōsumi but that seemed too big for him to be able to control so it was just... was what it was.

Even when his step-sister was out, Junpei had tiptoed around the apartment so far. Tonight was the first night where he tried to make himself at home and spent time on the couch with the television on. At dinnertime, he raided the cupboards to see what Saki had.

Due to his mother's illness, Junpei had been cooking since he could remember. Sometimes this was with his mom, sometimes trying to impress her and forcing her to eat the sunnyside eggs that a six year old had made. As he got older and started to realise why his mom had carers and why they were always so fussy around knives and other things kitchens had, he started to learn how to work in the kitchen so nobody else had to.

He always knew he was helping both his mum and the carers when he did this and he was really proud of that. His mom had loved his cooking but it was hard to tell if that was real feedback or not. He hadn't cooked much since she'd been sent away.

Tonight though, he had scoured for what he could in the apartment. Saki had a basic kitchen and a clear habit of takeaway so he was limited in what he could do. He made a mental note of a few basic groceries and seasonings he needed to buy to have real options in the kitchen.

Junpei wasn't sure if it was the act of cooking that relaxed him or if being relaxed for the first time in this week made him feel comfortable enough to cook. Either way, he enjoyed a simple but delicious curry udon instead of takeaway leftovers for the first time since coming to Ōsumi.

Having polished off the meal quickly and with some boring reality show on the television, Junpei pondered his life on the couch.

There were probably implications that the only two people he'd swapped numbers with at Akaogi High happened to be the main bullies given some of the comments that the class rep had made about it being a small town.

He'd initially pegged Akira as a bit of a mindless thug, someone who spent their time either working out or fighting. He knew he wasn't wrong on those two parts but some of the comments Akira had made and the way he seemed to navigate through conversations had definitely made Junpei start to think Akira was a lot savvier than he was giving him credit for.

Now that he'd decided to take a liking to Junpei, the guy seemed super friendly. They'd walked back towards a bus stop yesterday and Akira had started to educate Junpei about some things in town to help him get his bearings. Between that conversation and his research, it seemed like the town had a few big hubs and all the transport connected to those and those alone.

Sarasa on the other hand was one of those girls that Junpei had always hated in Tokyo. The longer they'd talked to her about what had been going on and their experiences, the more it seemed like everything about her was made up. Junpei hoped he wasn't being a dick but it felt like every time they told a story, Sarasa one-upped it with an experience.

They'd been there once, she'd been there three times. They had seen some things, she'd seen all the things. Akira was the stand alone tough guy, Sarasa was the school's sukeban. They were second years, she was a third year. It was hard to call her on it when you were talking about a supernatural experience but it had made Junpei place her in a box of people he had bad experiences with.

 _A pretty box though_ , Junpei thought as he chewed on the last bit of chicken from his curry. He knew he'd see her at school tomorrow, she seemed to make a point of the fact that she'd say hi so that none of her gang would take it upon themselves to harass them. She made no such promises for Akira but Junpei had figured out he was missing something about those two.

Later that night he was interrupted by Saki as he was brushing his teeth getting ready for bed. Her face was red with alcohol, her words a little bit slurred as she excitedly whispered 'ohmygodthisplacesmellsa-may-zing' to him.

'Sorry, I cooked earlier,' Junpei mumbled.

'You'll have to cook for me!' Saki exclaimed excitedly. 'I didn't even know I had ingredients that could smell so good.' A long pause as Junpei finished brushing teeth. 'Well, at least there's one thing you can do around the house!' Saki joked.

'Sure,' Junpei wasn't sure how to handle this. He thought she was waiting for the bathroom and he tried to make a quiet exit to his bedroom but she followed him.

'Sorrrrrry I'm never home. Work is just so crazy BUT today the Director came around with some booze since we're close to finishing one of the test projects. Honestly, they almost had to taxi some of us home but I figured I was fine to drive. You should have seen Itsumi, have I ever told you about him, oh—' Saki's phone dinged with a text message and she took off.

Junpei took his opportunity, disappeared into his room and shut his door. Despite the stomping and loud noises from around the house, Junpei slept soundly for the first time since arriving in Ōsumi.


	11. 22-4 Saturday Night

_Pi pi pi pi pi._ Junpei's phone buzzed as he lay in bed, unable to sleep due to anticipation of tomorrow. There was a group chat to both Junpei and Akira from Sarasa.

 **sarasa:** Sorry to both of you but I will not be able to make it tomorrow.

 **akira** : y

 **junpei:** can't believe you'd miss an opportunity for answers

 **sarasa** : I'm not very happy about it. We have to sort out some trouble Chisato has gotten herself into.

 **sarasa:** Don't mention that to anyone.

 **sarasa:** It is easier this way but both of you need to promise to tell me any answers.

 **akira:** need any help

 **sarasa** : No.

 **junpei: s** hould we meet up afterwards?

 **akira:** good

 **akira** : nah don't bother, K will drag out whatever deal they make to fix it

 **sarasa:** Yes but probably after school on Monday.

 **sarasa:** Shut up Akira.

 _Pi pi pi pi pi._ It was a private text from Akira.

 **akira:** school girl got caught stealing from the local family and the head's not happy

 **junpei:** wait, are you _yakuza_

 **akira:** no

 **akira:** they're just always at the gym

 **akira:** run the wrestling ring too

 **akira:** they don't touch school kids though

 **junpei:** oh ok. and that girl is one of Nagabuchi-san's gang?

 **akira:** yep.

 _Pi pi pi pi pi._ The group chat.

 **sarasa:** You both agree not to talk about this matter, yes?

 **junpei:** yes.

 **akira:** sure

 **sarasa:** And you both agree to tell me any information you learn?

 **junpei:** yes

 **akira:** yep. No worries sukeban.

Pi pi pi pi pi. Private text, this time Sarasa.

 **sarasa:** Please ignore anything Akira tells you about me. We don't get along these days.

 **junpei:** he hasn't said anything but okay :)

 **sarasa:** Sigh. I'll send you details about where to meet me after school on Monday so we can debrief.

 **junpei:** ok, sounds good

 **sarasa:** thanks matsui-san.


	12. 23-4 Sunday Datime

Hioki Strip Mall was the kind of place that was hard to figure out when it had been built. There were a few buildings that had been patched over so many times that they had to be standing here for at least a century. Others had a definite sixties vibe to them and the general art and wooden frames that held the assortment of shops into a strip mall was as eighties as Junpei could imagine.

Junpei had peeked inside while waiting for Akira. It was pretty obvious which one building he was heading to, enormous plastic banners decorated over one of the more dilapidated buildings that screamed 'GRAND OPENING' and sparkling gold.

'Sup dude?' called out Akira. He was wearing his casual clothes, a singlet and blue tracksuit pants. He was sweaty and tired and not on any form of transport. Junpei guessed he had run here from somewhere since Junpei had been on the only bus he'd seen so far come to this part of Ōsumi.

'Hey,' Junpei offered. 'You want to catch your breath first?'

'Yeah, I'll also probably grab a juice.' Akira caught up to Junpei and gave him a welcoming – if not too hard – slap on the shoulder. He nodded towards the 777, a massively popular convenience store franchise that had even made its way out to the island. 'Want anything?'

'No thanks.'

Junpei was not particularly calm or patient while Akira rummaged through the store. He ended up with a protein bar, a juice and just chilling with the fridge open for a minute while he caught his breath. Eventually when Junpei was about to say something, Akira straightened up and went over to pay. Junpei was pretty sure Akira was stirring him up on purpose.

How could he wait for answers? Shouldn't he be in some kind of hurry? Junpei thought it was better not to voice that but knew his face showed it.

'Alright, let's go.' Junpei insisted as Akira paused outside the 777 to take a big gulp of juice. Akira flashed a grin before agreeing.

The two of them stood outside the Golden Playhouse. Despite the mass of banners and posters welcoming people to their grand opening, it somehow seemed off-putting and tacky. It felt more like a scam than a legitimate business. Akira pointed this out.

'I'd prefer to have some answers, wouldn't you? Let's just not sign anything.' Junpei briefly remembered signing something and frowned to himself.

Akira pulled the door open with an overly dramatic 'after you' gesture and waited for Junpei to step in. After a moment or two of steeling himself, Junpei did.

He was met with a room that was impossibly large for where the outside of the building. He almost leaned back to do a double take but Akira was blocking the exit now. The carpet was a dull red, the walls a dull gold and it seemed like a snapshot of what someone thought a casino was. There were rows of slot machines, interrupted by oddly placed card tables. In spite of the fact that nobody else was in here, there was the electric hum of games being played.

Junpei looked around for Frederieke. He found her perched on a stool by the bar. Her outfit no longer looked out of place like it had at the port and her electric gold tie was by far the brightest object in the playhouse. She didn't quite smile but when she saw Junpei and Akira, her face did seem happier. She stubbed out a cigarette. 'Welcome, please come and join me.'

Junpei immediately headed over. He looked at Akira who seemed oddly cautious given everything Junpei knew about him and beckoned him over. They both took up a seat at the bar opposite the attendant.

'Good day gentlemen, I am Frederieke and I am the attendant of the Golden Playhouse.' She replaced a customary bow with a customary glare at the two of them to challenge her on that. 'Thank you for joining us for our Grand Opening.'

'Thank you for your invitation,' Junpei was polite. 'Can we please discuss what's happening? You told me you'd have answers if I came today.'

'Will your third not be joining you?' Frederieke raised an eyebrow. Junpei explained that she wouldn't be and Akira nodded along, his face stuck in a deep concentration. Neither of them was sure how Frederieke knew about Sarasa.

'Very well. She will need to attend soon if she is to be of any assistance to you. Let us first discuss what is happening here.' Frederieke paused, seemingly waiting for something and when nothing happened she started up again. 'As you should be aware, the next island over – Yakushima - is an ancient paradise and is relatively undisturbed by mankind compared to most of Japan. It has been afforded the protection of your government.' There was a pause for dramatic effect. 'It is also the burial place of a long dead god.'

Maybe it was a scam. Junpei swivelled to Akira who was clearly thinking the same thing. Frederieke continued her speech unimpeded.

'The burial place should have contained it but it appears that there has been an interruption in the ritual. Dead things can continue to grow and spread after all.' Frederieke offered that like she was explaining this to children. 'The veins of this god and maybe more have spread into Ōsumi. This is one part of what allowed you to enter the Beyond last week. The second part is why we have our grand opening here.'

'Hold—' Junpei was interrupted by Akira jabbing him in the side.

'Let's here the whole spiel first,' Akira muttered. Junpei rubbed at his side and turned back to the attendant in silence. She offered the same not-really-a-smile as before.

'The Saikaidō Space Centre was opened as a genuine space agency in 1969. The Institute of Space and Exploration has turned it into something else entirely. You've seen the real thing after all,' she added with a poignant smile as if to remind them that she wasn't crazy or they all were.

'This hasn't always been a bad thing—'

'Oh excuse me! If you consider meddling with the nature of the universe for no reason other than human curiosity a positive thing, then we're going to have to have a discussion with the masters.' A distinctly British voice blustered out from the backroom.

'It _is_ their nature,' Frederieke retorted.

'Their curiosity is making them slaves. They need wisdom to be following, not prodding and poking at things just to see how they work the way they work.' Junpei knew it as an accent on television, not one he'd ever actually encountered and it was stiffer than he'd expected.

'You may as well come out even if it's not your bit,' Frederieke rolled her eyes.

'Scientific wisdom is more important than theatrics,' the voice offered with no apology and the curtains to the backroom ruffled.

Out stepped the source of the voice, something very bizarre. The smooth metallic egg with a pleased face in it from the text message was perched on an oddly proportioned body. His face was tiny compared to the size of the egg and all moustache. The body it was sat upon was all shoulders, all legs and all its limbs seemed gangly and too long. His black trousers were pulled up uncomfortably high and his coat was a dull gold, a thick red stripe across it. It seemed like it fit a British stereotype from centuries ago.

'Matsui-san and… Komada-san,' Frederieke hadn't sought their names but seemed to know. Junpei guessed she was keeping tabs on all of them. 'Please meet our honoured guest Dirac.' There was some sarcasm in her tone.

'It's a pleasure to meet you!' his accent made his words sound off in a humorous way. Junpei and Akira greeted him politely.

'As I was saying,' Frederieke was forceful in her tone. 'The Institute has explored certain realms before without danger and there are times where this allows them to understand their place in the universe better.' There was a quick glare to the odd-looking Dirac who just shook his head in disapproval. 'Now they are behaving dangerously and seeking to unearth the ancient god. This is what you saw. We need you to stop this.'

'On that we agree!' chimed in Dirac unnecessarily.

'I am here to provide you services to assist in growth and development of your Persona.' Frederieke did take a customary bow this time.

'And I am here to allow you to actually survive the Beyond.' Dirac also tried to bow, a more dramatic and more royal gesture.

'We are glad that you have already agreed to help us.' Junpei flashed back to signing the paperwork. Damnit. He avoided looking at Akira.

'How do we… stop this?' Junpei asked. He felt something deep within him smile. _Apiztetl._

'You have already awoken to your power of Persona. You lack the capacity to awake yours by yourself.' Frederieke turned to Akira. 'We will assist you with that.'

'I can awaken my Persona?' Akira piped up. He looked more interested at the idea of being able to awaken to a power. Junpei had done his best to explain what he'd been told about the power to Akira and Sarasa but was surprised at how little it was questioned.

'The Institute has spent its entire existence meddling in the great Beyond and it has managed to tie people to old magics. Despite whatever revolution they might have decided to call it, the Institute is only examining the well-trodden arcana of ancient lore but their refusal to acknowledge this has put them on a dangerous path.'

'Through awful experimentation,' Dirac simmered as he interrupted, 'they have created their own abominations within the Beyond and they are using these to protect Saikaidō while they forge on ahead with their own stupidity.'

'You have both encountered these shadows,' Frederieke added. Junpei thought back to the odd-looking guard that Apiztetl had killed and Akira's stories about running from strange creatures. 'Each one shadow bears the masks of the Arcana. There is no use fighting these one at a time, we are going to need cut them off at the source. This is where you come in.'

'Somebody like me doesn't have the constitution for this work,' chortled Dirac.

'Us?' Junpei stammered. It seemed straightforward as it was explained but as some of the thoughts and memories of that place started to catch up with him, he started to doubt this whole thing.

'We have had to somewhat change our plans. Somebody has interfered with your destiny,' Frederieke frowned. 'You were meant to be our wild card, our Fool and now that power is out of your reach. You have been given a more powerful destiny and one you need to be infinitely more cautious about.'

'Both of us or just him?' Akira interjected.

'Him.' Frederieke didn't seem to care about the way Akira took it as an insult. 'As someone who wears the Universe arcana, your journey should be complete. It is the symbol of the fool who has reached the end of his journey and can now face the world in its completeness and drive change. You will be the change we need, forging your path to save the world instead of beginning a journey.'

It was a bold statement and not one that Junpei felt was even slightly true. At sixteen years old, it'd be hard for anyone to believe Junpei should be changing anything. He opened his mouth several times to start to say something but was at a loss for words. All he could think was that it felt like they'd just read over a letter until they could phrase it the way he wanted.

Maybe that's all there was to Tarot reading.

'Hell yes dude,' Akira slapped him on the shoulder. 'Think about how you could get paid from this.'

'This doesn't seem like a part time job Komada-san,' Junpei said with a bit too much sarcasm.

'This is your destiny and not an offer of employment,' confirmed Frederieke. 'That's not to say that opportunities will not present themselves where your abilities will not help you in the real world. It is more likely to be necessary that you need more resources here to help in the Beyond and we would never try to deny you your earthly pleasures.'

'How do I get my own power?' Akira asked directly.

'The Beyond, or the Dirac sea, as it was once known,' the egg's moustache twitched excitedly as Dirac started his lecture, 'is an infinite sea of the universe's energy. The Institute has created its own worlds within the sea at the expense of human life and these are where the shadows you've seen come from. In the year we have available to us, we plan to remove as many of these worlds as possible so that your job is as easy as possible in stopping the Institute.'

'The opportunity of your arcana has made this a lot simpler for me if I'm to be honest,' Frederieke stated.

'The Beyond is a lot like space. It is so massive, so impossible to figure out where and when things are, that we could never just guess these locations or sniff them out. Thanks to our master, we are going to be able to reverse engineer these locations.' Dirac looked very pleased he'd managed to explain this without questions from the two of them.

'Matsui-san, you will be able to forge a bond with Komada-san and begin a path of strengthening an arcana.' Junpei was starting to understand that Dirac was here in the scientific capacity and Frederieke was the more arcane one. It felt like she was much more important. 'We have recommendations about the appropriate ones but the choice is ultimately up to you.'

'What does that mean? Like… we're friends or our fates are tied together or…?' Junpei gestured like he had more guesses but no answers.

'Thanks to your power of the Universe, by placing the mask of an Arcana on Komada-san, you will awaken him to his power of Persona and forge a bond with him. This means that your fates will be tied together, not that you need to be friends.'

'This will also allow us to lockdown where that arcana is in the Beyond. This understanding will allow us to open a doorway to that world to help achieve our goals but only for a limited time.' Dirac included.

'That also ignores the fact that this process means that we will be unleashing the Shadow of however you form this bond with upon that world. The person will need to be prepared to face themselves.'

'But I'd get a Persona?' Akira's questions had all seemed pretty simple. His face showed a lot more complexity to it and Junpei guessed Akira was just sticking to the basics in front of this audience.

'Yes,' Dirac and Frederieke said in unison.

'Then let's do this,' Akira said with a huge grin as he turned to face Junpei. Junpei felt everyone wait for him and he had the distinct feeling he didn't understand enough when he signed that contract.


End file.
